(VOVworld) – The European Stability Mechanism (ECM) confirmed Tuesday that it has thrown a half-billion-euro lifeline to Greece.

People walk in front of the Greek parliament in Athens on March 6, 2015 (Photo: AFP)

After a week in which the Eurogroup of finance ministers and the European Central Bank turned the screws on Athens, the 555 millions euros will give its radical new government a brief respite from its creditors. According to economists, the decision is a rare victory for Athens in the increasingly fraught battle of wills with Brussels and Berlin. But while Greece has to find eight billion euros in March alone to meet its debts - 1.5 billion of that to the IMF - the relief the sum gives to the anti-austerity coalition is only relative.